(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to copying machines having a manual paper feeding function and an automatic paper feeding function.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Various copying machines having a manual paper feeding function have been proposed in recent years for allowing duplex copying and composite copying with conventional simple construction without relying on sophisticated copying machines. The proposed copying machines employ either a type of manual paper feeding device with a feed roller of its own or a type with a feeding roller and an automatic paper feeding cassette. A trend has formed in favor of the latter because of the lower cost in spite of the more complicated construction.
A type of manual paper feeding device which shares a feed roller with a cassette is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication Kokai No. 61-171746. This device is comprised of an openable and closable table attached to a machine body for supporting manually fed copying paper. The table has a forward end thereof in pressure contact with the feed roller from below when the table is opened. The device further comprises a lever shaft rotatable with opening and closing of the table. The lever shaft has a return lever for limiting the leading end of the copying paper, a feed roller lift lever for pushing the feed roller upward, and a manual feed lever for rotating the lever shaft from outside.
When making copies with manually fed copying paper, the sheets of copying paper may be placed one by one on the table when the table is in the open position and insert under the feed roller whereby the sheets are delivered into the copying machine. For making a plurality of copies successively with manually fed copying paper, the table is kept open and the lift lever is operated to retract the feed roller upwardly from the table surface, and a plurality of copying sheets are manually placed on the table and inserted until the leading ends of the sheets contact the return lever. Thereafter the manual feed lever is lowered to bring the feed roller into pressure contact with the copying sheets. As a result all of the copying sheets manually placed on the table are ready for successive delivery into the copying machine.
This manual paper feeding device, however, involves different operations when manually feeding a single sheet of copying paper than when feeding a plurality of copying sheets. The operation is troublesome particularly when feeding a plurality of copying sheets in because the manual feed lever must be operated. The manual feed lever acts also to press the copying sheets.
Moreover, with the known device, the number of copying sheets for manual feeding is limited by the gap between the feed roller and the table. There is also the problem of poor operability because the table must be returned to the original position after the copying paper is fed manually.